The End of Adolescence
by Firemaker
Summary: Ron Weasley, 6th of 7 siblings, merely friend of the chosen one. Having spent his life so far being on the edge of the spotlight, finally strikes out to set himself apart from the rest. RW/HG and some HP/GW. Set post DH battle of hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter blah blah blah, hibedy hooblar,

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><p>It had barely been 3 hours since Tom Marvolo Riddle had directed a Killing Curse at Harry Potter and it had backfired, killing him, forever. There had been much cheering and laughter for most. However in the Griffindor common room two redhead males sat in near silence. They were covered in blood and dirt and had clear tear tracks that had been running through their eyes The taller of the two, Georgy Weasley's eyes were puffy. He sat on a sofa with an almost vacant like stare. Ron Weasley made a movement as if to speak, feeling that it was counter productive to have his brother grieving on his own. But George interrupted him with a hollow laugh.<p>

"He'd be angry you know. If he could see us now, sitting here whilst everyone is downstairs celebrating he'd be downright angry at us for not partaking in the mood." Ron winced. It was true, Fred Weasley was never one to be down in mood. He was always present with a smile or a laugh. However he was gone, and with his departure George felt like he had taken all the laughter with him.

"Come on George, lets go downstairs, I suspect everyone else is wondering where we are." Ron said gently.

"You go on, I just want to stay here a bit longer." Ron frowned. Things weren't going the way he wanted to. He'd never been good at this kind of thing, dealing with grieving people. But he'd also never lost a twin. Never the less he had been closer to Fred and George than any of his other brothers. So he felt it his duty to look after George. So he tried again.

"Come on, lets go down really. You've been up here for an hour now. Don't you think the others want comfort too? You think you're alone. We all lost a brother." George's face twisted at this, Ron braced himself for the incoming bollocking that he was no doubt about to get.

"Just a brother? You think he was just a brother to me? He was everything! He was me!" George bellowed, fresh tears running down his face.

"I know, but that's why you have to put on a brave face. He wouldn't want us like this, bloody moping and stuff. And he certainly wouldn't want you to just stay here, alone. So come on, lets go down. They'll need support too."

It was a good speech Ron thought. Almost uncharacteristic of him. But desperate times called for desperate measures. And in a way these were desperate times. Still something must have reached George because without a word he got up and walked to the door. Ron stared at him, surprised that his words, of all people, had illicited such an action. George opened the door, turned back and looked at Ron.

"Well come on then! You can't give this rousing speech and not follow it yourself Ronnikins." they both smiled. However the smile didn't quite reach their eyes. The wounds created by the war would take time to heal over. And most certainly things would never be the same. But they had to keep on moving forward.

-x-y-z-a-b-c

Hogwarts was a mess. Everywhere you looked there was damage. Rubble cluttered the hallways and the place was still full of dust. However more than this, what was apparent was the abnormal number of activity that was going on inside. People had been steadily streaming in. With Hogwarts defenses down there were even people apparating in to the grounds. Parents looking for their children, officials surveying and others just coming to have a good look at where it had all happened. And at the centre of it all was The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter. From the moment he had walked back into Hogwarts with Ron and Hermione he had been mobbed by people wanting to thank him, congratulate him and gawk at him. It had gotten quite tiring and Harry wanted nothing more than to take a long rest. After all he deserved it. Harry turned to Hermione who appeared to be looking for something and whispered in her ear.

"Lets get out of here." She gave him a curt nod and they made their way through the crowd. As they were walking along Hermoine spotted a familiar red haired face and veered towards it.

"Where did you disappear to?" Hermione asked, hands on hips with a light look of irritation on her face. Any other day and Ron would have taken this as a cue to start a fight but, it wasn't just any day. Ron simply motioned with his head towards George who was knelt over his brother's body. Percy had his hand on George's shoulder and Molly Weasley was crying into the shoulder of her husband Arthur, who had his arms wrapped around her. When Hermione saw this, her posture instantly softened. For Harry, looking at the Weasley family all grieving the loss of Fred was heartbreaking in its own way. He felt partway responsible. But even as that look formed on his face Ron took one look at Harry and shook his head.

"Don't you even think of taking any part of the blame for his death. I can see you want to. But it's not your fault mate. The one responsible for this mess is dead." Ron said with some force. Harry didn't know what to say. He looked at his friend, who's eyes were red, obviously having been crying before and decided there was nothing he could say. So instead Harry just hugged him. "You can let go now." Ron said dryly as Harry held him, but before he could Hermione joined them. It had been a long day, possibly the longest of their lives. But the three of them still had each other.

"So what now?" Ron asked.

"I spoke to Kingsley earlier, who said there would be a memorial held here in a week. But apart from that nothing." Harry answered.

"Well, I spoke to Dad a few minutes ago and he said that he wanted to have a funeral for Fred in a week." Ron glanced at the rest of his family then continued "but I guess for now, it's back to The Burrows."

It was a somber mood in the burrows that night. The normally loud house was abnormally quiet, especially when one considered the number of people that were present in the house. Ron, who was in his room, laughed at the ridiculousness of this, causing Harry to give him a weird look.

"It's just, what do you think Fred would say, if he could see us now? I mean we just beat the greatest threat to the wizarding world and look at us. Bloody miserable." Harry smiled.

"I guess you're right. But you know, these things take time." Ron agreed with Harry, time would eventually heal most wounds, but he felt a bit skeptical about it healing the loss of Fred when it felt more like a gaping sword wound than a small cut.

"Anyway man, all this thinking is making me want desire my one true love." Harry glanced at him, slightly shocked that he could refer to Hermione like that, but before he could comment Ron finished the sentence saying "Food."

"You'd best not let her hear that, don't want to get attacked by a bunch of clawing birds again do you?" Harry quipped, amused. Ron laughed, a real laugh for the first time since he'd watched his brother die.

"For anything else, I'd hush, but for food. You know, it would be worth it."

"You're mad, you are." Ron smiled and walked downstairs. As he was raiding his Mother's cuboards to feed the never ending abyss that was inside him, in the dark, he noticed a small amount of light coming from the sitting area which was illuminating someone sitting on the couch. The thick, bushy out of control hair and book in this said persons hand gave it away. Grabbing two chocolate frogs he quietly snuck up behind the couch.

"You are such a bookworm." Hermione jumped, the book falling out of her hands to the floor. Ron broke out into laughter.

"That's not funny, RONALD." She punctuated his name with a light punch on the shoulder. But she smiled anyway. "What are you doing up anyway?" Hermione asked. Ron held up the chocolate frogs causing her to roll her eyes. "Do you EVER stop eating, I mean ever? It's a wonder you aren't fat! And two frogs as well, plain greedy you are Weasley."

"Actually, I picked this one for you. But if you put it like that, maybe I will just eat both."

"Thus proving my point that you are just a greedy bottomless stomach."

"Look do you want one or not?" Ron said exasperated. He always wondered how things always ended up as a fight between them. But even worse he realised he enjoyed bickering with her. Something about the way Hermione whole demeanour when she was arguing rubbed him up the right way. Perhaps it was the way she'd flick her hair about annoyed, or was it the the way her lips pressed together just seemed so... cute. He couldn't fully explain it, all he knew was that he liked it. "Fine, I suppose I will." Hermione said with mock reluctance. They both took a seat on the sofa and fell into a somewhat comfortable silence eating their chocolate. However for both of them, their minds turned to the elephant in the room, the kiss they had shared in the room of requirement. At the time it felt like they had no time left, but now, now they had all the time in the world. Ron almost wished he had his copy of Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches to hand. He reached for the book Hermione dropped and picked it up.

"Oh thanks." Said Hermione who stretched her hand out to take it. However Ron pulled it away just as she was about to grip the book.

"Don't you think you've done enough reading for one lifetime?" Ron said, feeling a little mischievious. Hermione was not impressed. She tried to take it again, but Ron stretched, put the book out of reach.

"Ron Weasley, you give me my book!" Hermione looked at Ron with fire in her eyes. She crawled up stradddling Ron in order to get closer to her book. Ron suddenly realised what sort of position he was in. Hermione Granger was on top of him, hair all over the place, fire in her eyes and he knew that he was going to kiss her. He just knew it, as sure as he was that the sun would come up the next day. As she struggled on to get her book, Ron waited until her face was inches away from his. He then dropped the book and wrapped his arms around her her frame and brought his lips to hers. Hermione stopped dead almost in shock. But as what was happening went from her subconcious mind to her concious she responded, opening her mouth and deepening the kiss. She allowed herself to go slack, her body flush against his. His hands were roaming her lion's mane hair and her back as she proceeded to feel his chest, wondering when he had developed such a muscled frame. As this continued, Ron moaned as Hermione moved about on him. They had to come up for air though. Hermione started giggling.

"What's so funny then?" Ron asked, wondering how another kiss had turned into such an amusing thing.

"You, me, us. We're messed up you know."

"What?" Ron wrinkled his nose at the idea of being called messed up.

"Rather than flirt like normal people, we seem to just fight." said Hermione. Even in the dim light Ron could see that she was grinning, ear to ear, eyes sparkling. It was true enough though. Ron felt like half his fights with Hermione stemmed from a frustration of not being able to easily convey how he felt and the fact that he enjoyed her focusing her full attention on him.

"I do prefer being able to end fights like this though. Perhaps we should have tried this sooner." Ron replied.

"Perhaps." And with that Ron pulled her down onto him again and they continued where they had left off. Hermione felt like she was in a state of drunken euphoria at the current turn of events. Here they were, not on teh run for their lives for once, safe and here she was finally being able to act on a crush that she had been nursing since her 4th year in Hogwarts. Ron was feeling the same way, he poured as much passion as he could into the kiss as if making up for all the time lost in previous years.

Some time later the two of them surfaced for air again. Hermione rested her head on Ron's chest, enjoying the steady rise and fall of his chest. Ron looked at Hermione, lips swollen, hair every all over the place, her scent wafting into his nose and he felt content, happy even.

"I've wanted to do that for years you know." Ron said softly, absent-mindedly playing with her hair.

"You aren't the only one. But when did you first really know?" Hermione asked.

"Yule Ball." Ron answered instantly. "Till then, I'd never really thought about it, but when I saw... HIM dancing with you," even now, thinking about Viktor Krum made Ron scowl.

"You can't still be angry about that surely? You should have asked me first!"

"I know, I know. But I can't help it. In fact that's the whole reason I started dating Lavender you know." Ron chuckled.

"Ronald... thats... ridiculous." Hermione said shaking her head.

"You're one to talk! What about McClaggen?" Hermione blushed. It was true, the only reason she had even taken McClaggen to Slughorn's christmas party was to try and exact revenge for Ron hooking up with Lavender.

"We really are messed up you know." Hermione said, softly as if almost to herself.

"Well I blame you, it's only you that does this to me." Ron said, however it wasn't in an accusory tone. Rather, it really was the truth. Hermione knew how to drive him crazy.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Hermione sighed whistfully, clutching at his chest again. They fell into a comfortable silence.

"Hey, Hermione?" Ron whispered. But she gave no answer. Ron smiled lightly and kissed her on the head before lying back and let himself fall into oblivion.

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><p>Sorry really short, but I promise I'll up the chapter length. As for this story, don't worry. I don't plan for it to become some fluff-fest. And it will most certainly earn its M rating. Anyway, read and review people.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

The sound of giggling. A mostly asleep, groggy, Ron Weasley swore that's what he could hear. He reluctantly opened his eyes to see a mess of brown hair lying on his chest. He smiled, fondly remembering what had happened last night. However the giggling sound grew stronger with this. He looked around and spotted George and Ginny looking back at him from a distance.

"Awwwww, you two look so cute together." George said.

"Well it's really about time don't you think. You should have seen these two in 6th year! They couldn't " Ginny replied.

"6th year?" George scoffed. "We had a bet on these two in 3rd year!" George face dropped slightly, when he realised that 'we' encompassed his dead brother.

Ron felt highly embarrassed about how this conversation was proceeding between his two siblings. But even worse, with all this commotion, the girl that was happily asleep on Ron's chest began to stir. She opened her eyes and looked up at the boy that had been her pillow that.

"Morning, Ronald." she said softly followed by her giving him a light kiss on the neck.

"AWWWWWWwwwwwww." George and Ginny chimed in together. Ron went bright red, his skin nearly matching his hair, wishing that at that exact moment the sofa on which he was lying on would absorb him. Hermione however snapped up immediately, and looked at George and Ginny. Her eyes dilated, wide like a bunny that had just run into the path of a muggle car. Her whole face went so red it was almost as if you could feel the heat radiating from her. She got off Ron stood up, hands on hips and opened her mouth to speak. But seeing the looks of amusement on the faces of Ginny and George, she quickly shut it and walked off as fast as she could without running.

"Bloody hell you two, now she's never going to sleep with me again!" Ron said looking angry. However as soon as he realised what he had uttered he tried to amend it.

"I meant... ugh... um..." Ron spluttered. This however just incited more laughter in the present siblings causing Ron to storm off to his room. Feeling annoyed but unsure as to why he walked into his room and slammed the door.

"Was that really necessary mate?" Harry gave him a weird look.

"Sorry, totally forgot you were up here." Ron said sheepishly.

"Speaking of which, just where were you last night? You didn't come back up after getting food." Harry seemed somewhat curious but Ron decided it was best to just safely play it off.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"No seriously, where did you sleep?" Harry was now suspicious, he knew Ron was hiding something.

"Why does it matter?"

"I just want to know!" Ron sighed. He knew a lost cause when he saw it, plus he was pretty sure that by now just about the rest of the household knew anyway.

"Well, I went down to get some food and found Hermione reading, as usual." Ron tried to suppress a grin as he remembered what happened fondly, however the smirk on Harry's face told him that he was failing... abysmally.

"You can stop the story right there. I really don't want to hear the rest."

"Oh shut up." Ron retorted amicably punctuating it with a light punch on the shoulder.

"Maybe I should take a note from your book and sneak into Ginny's room then." Harry said this light heartedly enough, but really he wanted to test the waters again. Ron's face instantly turned serious and Harry prepared himself for the worst.

"Yeah, about that, we need to talk." Ron let out with an air of deliberation around his words. He sniffed lightly at the air, fresh bacon wafting into his nostrils. "I guess it can wait though, it's breakfast time." Harry rolled his eyes. 'Some things never change' was the thought that ran through his head as he made his way down to the breakfast table.

-=x+-=y+-

Harry and Ron were the last two to arrive to the table. Ron sat in between Hermione and Fleur in silence determined to ignore the baited smiles coming from George and Ginny. Harry sat down next to Ginny with an air of expectation, knowing that there would some how be drama occurring at this meal. Molly Weasley came back from the kitchen with more food to serve on the table, it was immediately obvious to all who looked at her that she had been crying. This seemed to somber the mood somewhat. Well at least for some. Others were busy trying to act innocent despite the previous nights affairs. Ginny however thought it would be a nice time to lighten the mood and tease her brother at the same time.

"Sleep well, Ron?" a huge smirk came across her face. Ron flushed red, his ears nearly burning. He however wasn't the only one to flush red. George felt this an opportune moment to stir the pot.

"What about you Hermione, how was your bed? I trust it was warm and comfortable?" this incited giggles in Ginny, George and Harry. Hermione picked this as the time to appear to be very interested in her plate.

"Why, is there something wrong with the bed Hermione?" Said Molly, obviously having no idea just how the sleeping arrangements were the previous night. Bill and Charlie however seemed to have easily sussed what was going on as they began to laugh.

"Perhaps a bit thick Mrs. Weasley, but that's the way Hermione likes it." Harry chimed in. Ron, who was literally radiating heat from his red face, in return gave Harry a very dirty look before returning.

"Oh she's liked that bed for ages Mum, she even talks about it to me all the time in school." Ginny said amidst a fit of giggles. Ron looked at Hermione who he could see was not coping with the unwanted attention well and decided to take matters into his own hands. Gripping his wand which was in his pocket, due to a matter of habit, he thought Locomotor Cup, causing his cup to fall to the ground. It smashed into little pieces drawing all the attention to him.

"Oh crap!" Ron uttered somewhat convincingly. However Hermione noticed Ron's hand which firmly wrapped around his wand, causing her to smile.

"Well done Ronniekins, would have thought a quidditch keeper would at least be able to save the cup from smashing to pieces."

"Sorry, been out of practice of lately." Ron said, letting the comment slide off him easily whilst being pleased at the change of subject. "Reparo." he uttered, putting the cup back together and placing it on the table. "Anyway, speaking of quidditch, anyone care for a small game?" A lot of faces on the tale brightened at this suggestion.

In the end it was decided that Bill, Charlie and Ron would go up against George, Harry and Ginny. They would play until one team got 130 points ahead to compensate for the fact their was no snitch.

"Feels weird being back on a broom." Bill said to Charlie. Both of them had been good quidditch once upon a time. But thing changed. Hermione being much more a supporter than a player when it came to quidditch had offered to begin the game and watch from the sidelines.

The quaffle went up and all hell broke loose. Hermione ran to the side as Bill snatched the odd shaped ball out of the air almost from right under Ginny's nose. He threw it back to Charlie who zoomed forward towards the goal. As he got close he raised the quaffle in the air to hit it into the lower goal however as he hit it towards the lower ring George snapped it up. He tossed the quaffle at Ginny, who flew straight at Ron. Last second before she would have collided with Ron she threw the quaffle into the middle goal. Ron sighed, just his luck that he was against the best chaser of Hogwarts. Charlie swiftly collected the quaffle and was back on the attack. Harry went towards him, but as he got close Charlie beat the the quaffle upwards and almost out of nowhere Bill came up and smashed it straight into the lower goal. George muttered a string of curses under his breath and tossed the ball back to Ginny. Ginny flew straight at goal again demonstrating her prowess against her eldest brothers who simply could not catch her. Ron sighed as he knew it would be him to face down his sister. Ginny threw the ball at the open goal in the middle, Ron dived like a madman just getting his fingertips to it, sending the quaffle off course. Bill and Charlie cheered and went back onto the offensive.

Much of the game continued like this. Ron constantly found himself defending shots from his younger sister and Bill and Charlie showing teamwork that noone had imagined they posessed. By time they quit playing it had been 390 to 260, Bill and Charlie having dominated the match much to the annoyance of George and Ginny.

As they went inside Ginny pulled Ron aside.

"Hey, since when could those two play like that? You never told me Bill was that good at quidditch." This earned a grin from Ron.

"I thought it would be to my advantage to shut up when you decided on those teams." Ron seemed thoroughly amused at how irritated Ginny was about losing at quidditch, to her brothers who had all been out of practice. Ginny walked off muttering darkly under her breath. At this moment Arthur Weasley dissparrated to the front entrance. Molly greeted him, however you could tell from her voice alone that she had been crying. Her eyes were still puffy and swollen up. Ron felt somewhat guilty that they'd been out having fun. But George had needed it. He was pretty sure that it would be the best thing for everyone if they got laughs in before the wave of funerals began.

"You know, that brooding look doesn't really suit you." Harry had popped out of nowhere, saying this with a light smile.

"True, I feel like I'm infringing on your trademark here." they both shared a little laugh over just how true that statement was.

"I dunno bout that, back when you had that blasted locket you seemed to be doing a lot of that." Ron winced as he remembered the effect that Riddle had had on him back then. "So really, whats up?" Harry asked. Ron motioned with his head towards his mother, who was an absolute state. Harry gave him a sympathetic nod, understanding everything without a word needing to be spoken.

"How's George doing?" Harry asked softly.

"It's hard to tell you know. He seems fine at times, joking and so on, but when no-ones looking he looks so down you know." Harry just nodded, not entirely sure what to say to that. There really was nothing that could be said in general. They may had one the war, but it had come at the price of a lot of lives. his own thoughts moved to Remus and Tonks. However Harry had no intention of tearing up with everyone around so than dwell on it he decided it would be prudent to focus his mind elsewhere.

"Game of chess?" Harry asked.

"Sure. But you're only going to get destroyed." said Ron, feeling confident as usual. Not that his confidence was misplaced. "I'll tell you what, lets make things fun, we'll play 3 games at once. You know how my concentration is, so this will be to your advantage."

It wasn't, the whole match was spent with Harry cursing like he was Ron. Half way in Hermione joined them in silence with a book, absently minded. Ron felt a little childish but he had the urge to thrash Harry if only to earn some praise from her. So Ron pushed Harry hard on all three boards. On one board he even made foolish sacrifices to follow us with ridiculous ploys, such as sacrificing his queen to let a pawn become one in the next 2 turns. Eventually he had crushed him on all three boards.

"I don't know why I even bother." said Harry, irritated that after all these years all he was to Ron in a game of chess was something to be toyed with, like a cat playing with its prey. Hermione let out a light laugh.

"You know Ronald, I am always amazed at how well you can concentrate when you play that barbaric game."

"It's not barbaric!" Ron hissed. he wasn't sure why, but he didn't like it when Hermione made fun of the one thing he knew he was brilliant at.

"How can watching pieces of stone attack and destroy other pieces be anything but barbaric?" Hermione said, seething. It was a stupid argument and she knew it, but that didn't mean she was going to back down.

"It's not about that, it's about the tactics, I'll use a muggle board if it bothers you that much?"

"Really?" Hermione said softly, she felt surprised that Ron was willing to compromise so quickly.

"Well if it bothers you that much, I guess so." Ron said, blushing bright red. Hermione felt kind of bad, as it wasn't like any real living things got harmed playing the game as violent and barbaric as she found it.

"Actually no, don't worry about it. I'm just being a bit over the top really, I'm sorry." Ron's jaw dropped. Never in all his years bickering with Hermione had he ever heard her say those words this easily. Ron moved closer to Hermione, giving her a strong stare.

"Just who are you and what have you done with Hermione?" Ron said. He found his eyes drawn to hers, like a magnet. He couldn't look away, the distance between their faces slowly closing.

"I'm... still... the... same... gir..." Hermione voice came out softly, broken, as she peered back into his eyes. Their noses almost touching, and then their lips met. Fireworks went off in their bodies. Suddenly Hermione had her hands around Ron's head and back, pulling him in as close as she could. Ron had his arms round her back pressing her in. His tongue and hers dueling ferociously much like their arguments.

"OI, I'M STILL HERE YOU KNOW!" shouted Harry. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. It was as if his best friends had both been given strong love potions that had somehow blocked out the rest of the room. Ron stuck his middle finger up at Harry and continued to roughly grip and kiss Hermione. Harry simply thew his hands up in the air and walked out of the bedroom with a great sigh. 'Might as well go find Ginny and take a page out of Ron's book he thought.

Ron felt like he was on fire. He'd had a lot of makeouts with Lavender, sure, but this was different. He'd never felt so consumed by lust. He felt almost shocked at what was going on. Ron broke apart from her, needing to replenish his oxygen stores, panting. Hermione was in the same state, her wild hair cascaded everywhere, face flushed and her eyes only focused on one thing. Ron. He couldn't keep his eyes off her, Only one word came to mind in this situation. Beautiful.

"What?" Hermione asked. Ron blushed, realising he must have accidentally said it out loud. However five years of dancing around and not being frank with his feelings had taught him well, so he spoke up.

"You... look... beautiful." he uttered, punctuating each word with a light kiss on her lips. Hermione looked at him, almost disbelieving her ears. She could barely believe what had been happening in the first place, after all these years it seemed almost too good to be true. But here was Ron Weasley telling her she was beautiful. Something tweaked inside her and suddenly she was crushing her lips against his again. Her tongue snaked into his mouth. She sent her hands onto Ron's chest and in the heat of the moment decided that she wanted his top gone. So she pulled up. They broke apart as Ron took it off and then she then followed suit beginning to unbutton the blouse she was wearing. Ron however ever the impatient one simply grab both sides and ripped the buttons apart.

"Ron!" she cried out.

"We can repair it later." Ron said quickly. Hermione slipped off her shirt and it was back to kissing. She wrapped her legs around Ron's waist and they fell onto his bed. Her bra flush against his chest, her stomach against his. He began to nibble on her earlobe lightly remembering some of what he had read in Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches. In response to this she moaned, bucking into Ron. She then bit down on his neck causing Ron to yelp. It was strange, it had been painful, but it induced a wave of pleasure as well as she continued to suck on his neck. When she disengaged she leaned back to admire her work.

"I think I just marked you as mine, Ronald." came her laboured voice with a hint of giggling in it. Truthfully, Ron had been hers for years now. Even when he had been with Lavender, all he had really thought about was Hermione. He leaned in and kissed her on the neck. And then in a light voice, almost whisperlike he admitted it.

"I've always been yours, Hermione." The mere thought of this drove her wild and she proceeded to kiss him on the lips again, roughly, her hands clutching at his chest, and she began to grind herself on his thigh, moaning. Ron felt shocked that Hermione, the bookworm was capable of doing such a thing. He felt lucky as he wrapped his hands around her back. Hermione pulled apart for a second and going bright red she took one of his hands and with hers used it to cup a breast of hers. Ron lost all control, he suddenly found himself kissing her everywhere, her lips, her neck, her collarbone, her chest. He wanted her and only her. He was in the middle on planting kisses on her collarbone when suddenly there was a knock at the door. Hermione jumped with shock.

"Hey are you two decent?" came Harry's voice. "I'm comi-"

"Don't come in!" cried out Hermione. Ron took out his wand and pointed it at Hermione's blouse saying "Reparo." he watched as all the buttons went back onto the blouse.

"Thanks." Hermione said lightly, giving him a peck on the lips.

"Bloody hell you two, whats taking so long?" came Harry's voice.

"Oh, be quiet!" called out Ron, feeling irritated that the most charged makeout session of his life had been abruptly ended. He put his top back on and then opened the door.

"You're a right old git you know." Ron greeted Harry, but when Hermione joined them, he couldn't wipe the smile off his face anymore than she could. Harry just rolled his eyes.

"So what did you want?" Hermione asked Harry.

"Oh, dinner." Harry said. "We called you two earlier but, doesn't seem like you two heard." Harry smirked. he looked at Hermione's disheveled hair and then at Ron, who was red all over. Harry then noticed Ron's neck. "Ron is that a-" Hermione cut him off.

"Come on, lets go downstairs." Came her voice in a firm tone, clearly embarrassed.

-=+x-=+y-=+z-

Dinner had been a somewhat somber affair. Ron and Hermione's late arrival had caused a few smirks, but noone could stay in a cheerful mood when it was very obvious that Molly Weasley had been crying. George didn't say a word the whole meal. This lead to very little talk. Arthur had disclosed that the Ministry had currently been in a state of disarray as most of the current high members had had to be forcibly removed. He also said that there were plans being made to have a memorial to remember all those who had died in the first and second war.

Everyone went to their rooms early that night. The Burrow was unusually quiet. Ron went up to his room with Harry who wa unusually quiet that night.

"You alright mate?" Ron asked, looking concerned. Not that it wasn't unlike Harry to brood, but sometimes things needed to be talked about.

"It's just... it's hard you know. So many... dead." Ron nodded. "I mean, think of Teddy, he'll have to grow up, never knowing his parents." Harry's voice came out somewhat broken, and a few tears fell out of his eyes.

"You know, Tonks and Lupin would have done it all again. To protect him and give him the chance to grow up in a world without... him." Harry nodded, this he knew was also true. The two of them sat on their beds in silence, dwelling on the many who had sacrificed their lives in order that others might live and enjoy a safer life.

-=+x-=+y-=+z-

Ron woke to the sound of screaming. He bolted up, grabbing his wand, which, due to habit was under his pillow. Harry had done the same thing. The two of them shared a look almost of dread and ran out of their room. The scream had come from the top level of The Burrow. The practically flew up the stairs and into Hermione and Ginny's room. Busting into the door they found Hermione sobbing and Ginny with her arm wrapped around her.

"What happened." came out Harry's voice, urgent, thick with worry.

"Nightmare." Ginny simply said.

"She... I didn't... using cruciactus." came Hermione's voice, broken up with sobs. Harry and Ron shared a look of understanding blood draining from both of their faces. She had been dreaming about the events that had occurred in the Malfoy Mannor. She'd been dreaming of the torture that she had endured under the interrogation of Bellatrix Lestrange. At this moment Arthur Weasley came in quietly with a concerned look on his face.

"What's going on?" he asked Ron.

"Nightmare." Ron said. Arthur nodded, understandingly and left the children who weren't children to comfort her. Ron sat down on the bed beside Hermione and put his arm around her head. Hermione turned her head and buried it in the nook between Ron's should and his neck and she burst into tears again. Ginny let go of her sensing almost instinctively that her brother would do a far better job comforting her than she could. Ron held her in both arms tightly rocking her back and forth.

"She wouldn't... stop." Hermione came out, broken and clotted.

"It's okay, you're safe now. She can't ever hurt you again." whispered Ron softly. Inside however he felt angry. Angry at himself that hadn't been strong enough to save her before she had been tortured. But even more so angry that he hadn't been given the chance to finish off Bellatrix himself. But to him, what mattered most of all was comforting the girl that was sobbing in his arms. He stroke her hair and whispered comforting words into her ear.

"Come on, we should go." Ginny whispered to Harry. Harry gave her a weird look wondering why she was suggesting they leave his best friends. "She'll be fine, I promise, she has him now." Ginny gave an empty smile whilst she looked at her brother in a new light, having never known him to be so caring and empathetic. Harry looked down and watched Ron, with a feeling that he may have underestimated the strength of the feelings Ron had for Hermione. He looked back at Ginny, nodded very slightly and they slipped off quietly.

Ron continued to lightly rock Hermione and whisper into her ear. Eventually Hermione's breathing became steady. He looked down at her and unbidden out of nowhere the words "I love you" came out of his mouth softly. Internally he quaked a bit. but his fears were unwarranted as it appeared that Hermione was back to sleep. He lay down on the bed, resting her head on his chest and clung to her tightly. He loved her, the thought branded on his brain. Now all he had to do was tell her, which he knew was easier said in his head than it would ever be out loud. He sighed wistfully and listened to the sounds of her breathing letting the constant rhythm slowly lull him to sleep.

-x-y-z-

I'm in two minds about this chapter really, half pleased, half pissed. I dunno I felt it could have been written better. I will also admit I really did enjoy writing the Ron and Hermione make out. I guess smut just flows easily in my mind. Anyway, read and review, criticism, flames are not only welcome but encouraged. I need to improve

Firemaker


	3. Chapter 3

"Ron." called out a soft female voice. Ron very much asleep stirred slightly and smiled. "Ron." called the voice again, a little harder, but still he persisted in sleeping. The girl who had been calling his name, Hermione Granger, lay in his arms with nothing but a long pink top and her panties. "Ron!" she tried again. A little bit more urgency in her voice. This time Ron groaned. His eyes half opened to see Hermione looking back at him expectantly.

"Mornin erm-my-nee." Ron uttered softly clearly not even half awake, before closing his eyes again. Hermione silently fumed. She needed to get him out the room now, before another incident involving other members of the household walking in on them happened. It would be an absolute disaster if one of Ron's parents walked in on them like this. The problem however was waking him up without waking the whole house up in the process.

Now normally Hermione's mind worked in a very logical manner. She could easily find the solution to a problem after just applying some mental thought. However looking at Ron as his chest rose and fell, being able to feel him as his arms were lightly wrapped around her, his musky scent wafting into her nose and his light snore filling the room like a calming lullaby. This assault on her senses was rendering her ability to calmly and logically think. Her remaining sense, taste was the only thing that at the moment was not filled with Ron, and it was tugging at her, consciously to rectify this. She looked at his lips and more than anything else, she wanted to kiss them. Sighing to herself at how the internal battle to wake Ron up and get him out the room seemed lost she moved up closer to his face and planted a soft kiss on his lips. To her surprise he stirred at this, and his eyes opened, looking straight into hers.

"Hey." Ron said lightly, an almost blissful smile working his way across his face. It was the second time he had woken up to find Hermione in his arms. This time though it was definitely more pleasant. Instead of giggling, it had been a kiss and the whole bed just smelt of her.

"Hey yourself." Hermione responded playful. Internally though she was scolding herself, because she knew that what she was really meant to be doing was kicking Ron out of the room before one of his many brothers came to find out why they weren't up, or worse, Mrs. Weasley did. That last thought though led to her giving it another try. "Ron, you should go before your mom comes." she said gently. It didn't even sound convincing to her own ears, so she wondered just how it would convince the ever stubborn Ronald Weasley.

"I don't care." he said decisively, his arms pulling her in closer to him. Hermione shifted and her mouth opened to say something but before she could Ron quickly started talking again to appease her. "Can't we just lie here for a bit longer? Please?" she looked into his eyes and she knew it, she just couldn't say no.

"Okay." she uttered lightly, almost as if she was speaking to herself.

"Okay?" Ron asked for clarification, his eyes lit up at the possibility.

"Okay." she gave Ron another light peck. Upon receiving the kiss, the carnal lustful beast that had been slumbering awoke. He brought a hand up and placed Hermione's lips back on his. Her body acting on autopilot parted her mouth slightly allowing Ron's tongue entrance to her mouth. As they massaged their tongues one against the other she began to grind herself on his thigh moaning. They both moaned in unison as she was rubbing one of her legs up and down Ron's shaft in the process. Ron pulled back from kissing her and began planting kisses down the right side of her neck, leading to Hermione letting out a long guttural moan of pleasure.

'This has to end NOW!" went through Hermione's head. She knew that if she didn't stop this now it might not stop for a while. So she pulled herself up, still straddling Ron. Ron looked up at her in almost awe, he could never explain why, but he just found that disheveled, tangled messy hair of hers so sexy. He looked up at her expectantly as she pursed her lips.

"Ron, you need to go." she was going to try again.

"Why?" he asked her, whilst his right hand proceeded to make little circles on the small of his back. She was finding this harder and harder by the second it was an uphill battle and she was losing it to her body.

"What if someone... walks in... here?" her voice was getting weaker by the second.

"I told you I don't care. And I'll happily take all the blame anyway." He said with a grin.

"Ron!" she cried out in frustration. She resorted to her last gambit, and pulled the covers off them and got off the bed. However this was to prove to be a grave mistake. What was left was Ron, who was in his orange Cannon pajamas. However almost immediately they both noticed the massive tent that was being pitched on his pajama bottoms, causing them to both go bright red.

"Well... um... I can't... er... go anywhere with... that..." Were the words that came out of Ron's mouth, him looking thoroughly embarrassed. Hermione seemed to share this embarrassment, but another emotion was welling up inside her that she didn't particularly want to address but it came out anyway.

"Okay... er... how long does it take to... go down?" Hermione asked curiosity beginning to peak over her embarrassment.

"Well... really... right now..." Ron wasn't sure how he was going to phrase this without being killed by her or dying from embarrassment. He decided to just go ahead and say it anyway though, figuring at this stage, he was probably going to be killed anyway. "It's not going to... going to go down... well as long as you're here and this bed well, it's smell isn't helping." Ron was mortified at what he had just said, he simply lay back and closed his eyes awaiting punishment. Hermione's face went red like a muggle firetruck at this statement. Her 'logical' mind seemed to have found a quicker solution to the problem though. This however caused her to go even more red if that were even possible.

"What about if I... erm... relieved the pressure." the words came out of her mouth and she almost didn't recognize them, they had been so soft and an octave higher than her usual voice. Ron snapped up and stared at her, his mouth open making a small 'O'. He was shocked that booksmart Hermione Granger could come up with such a solution.

"That would... erm... definitely work." Ron replied.

"Okay." and wit that Hermione began to pull his orange trousers and boxers down. Ron simply chalked this up to being a dream, not believing for a second that what could be happening at the moment was real in the slightest.

When she pulled down Ron's boxers, his penis sprung out like a jack in the box at 90 degrees. Curiosity was now far outweighing any embarrassment Hermione felt. She'd read about them before in books, but this was her first time seeing a real one. She looked at it for a bit and then red faced she remembered some of what she had read in some of the more raunchier novels that she owned. Taking her instruction from there she wrapped her right hand around his shaft. A long loud groan came out of Ron's mouth. He couldn't believe it, the girl of his dreams, the girl he was in love with and had been for a good 3 years had her hand wrapped around his cock. But nothing could prepare him for when she started moving her hand up and down. Hermione was doing and she had read in some of the books that had kept her company at late hours in the night, softly moving the skin on his dick up and down. Ron began to breathe in a very laboured manner waves of pleasure rolling over him.

"This feel okay?" Hermione asked, with a small giggle, the embarrassment she had first felt at this whole situation now turned to arousal.

"You're... amazing... you are." were the words that came out of Ron's mouth.

"Always the tone of surprise." she replied huskily, causing Ron to let out a small laugh and then a bigger moan of pleasure. Hermioine could feel that her panties were now soaked, she could even faintly smell it. She decided that she might as well join Ron and get in on the fun, she pulled down her panties slightly and began to rub herself, causing her to let out a long moan.

Ron could feel Hermione's other hand moving around a bit erratically on his leg, he sat up on his elbows and looked down to see what was going on, the site that met him however nearly caused him to blow his load immediately. Hermione Granger was rubbing one out, whilst jacking him off too. Her face was contorting in all sorts of weird and wonderful expressions and Ron felt himself moving closer and closer to cumming, just watching her.

Ron decided that he wanted to help move her along towards her own orgasm. Inside his most treasured book, Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches, there had been a whole section dedicated to sex which he had read a few times. Remembering what he had read, he pulled down Hermione's underwear and stuck two fingers inside her pussy.

"Roooon!" came her cry in a whispered voice. Ron curled his fingers slightly and began to move them as if to say come hither. This caused Hermione to buck slightly, her muscles not fully under control. She was headed towards an orgasm, a mind shattering one at that. She was panting and eyes were closed. Ron marveled at the sight in front of him, trying to brand this image in his mind, never wanting to lose it.

Hermione suddenly began to buck like crazy letting out a long low moan from her mouth. She was having muscle spasms all over her body, face contorted into a strange position, as huge waves of pure euphoric, orgasmic pleasure went through her. Ron watching this could hold on no longer and arched his back upwards, clenching his feet. He blew his load, everywhere. He covered his legs, his top, and got some of his spunk over Hermione's nighty and even a bit on her face.

Hermione stopped convulsing and literally collapsed onto Ron. For a while they just lay there, letting their breathing rate come back down to normal.

"You're amazing you are." Ron whispered in her ear, letting out a little giggle.

"Always the tone of surprise." Hermione replied, with a big smile on her face. She reached up and gave him a kiss on his neck. Then moved up to his ear and gave his earlobe a small nibble before whispering in it. "But you were pretty amazing yourself." She then moved back down and left another kiss on his neck.

"You really love kissing my neck don't you." he said. She responded by ligtly biting the part of the neck she had kissed, causing Ron to let out an energetic grunt.

"I love biting it too." she said, smiling, her eyes looking into his, shining. She then kissed him on the lips.

"I love kissing, your lips too." she said. "Well actually, I just love kissing you." she finally admitted. Ron happily pulled her down and gave her a passionate kiss on the lips.

When they finally pulled apart Ron's stomach rumbled, causing Hermione to laugh.

"Come on, lets clean up and go get breakfast before you end up all grouchy." she said to Ron. Hermione took out her wand and began to use it to clean up the stains that were on her nighty and his t-shirt and bottoms. When they were done, she put the wand down.

"Shall we?" Ron said, looking at the door.

"We shall." came Hermione's reply. Ron took her hand and opened the door. As they walked down the stairs, Hermione moved her hands round to interlock with his, followed by a small reassuring squeeze from her. Ron smiled and without a word they entered the dining area to find everyone already seated.

"You two took your time." whispered Harry into Ron's ear as he sat beside him.

"Yeah, we took some time getting up."

"That's one way to put it, I guess. I came to get you guys but left when I heard some certain sounds coming out of the room." Harry made a face and Ron went bright red.

"Err, well, it's none of your business mate." he said, punching Harry lightly on the arm.

"I don't even want to know." Harry replied and then he began to tuck into his food as if to put a permanent end to the conversation.

-a-b-c-x-y-z-

Breakfast had been a relatively painless affair though a lot less rowdy than the standard breakfast at The Burrow. George had been near quiet which seemed to have the knock on effect of causing Molly to also be silent. Ron tried to distract himself a bit from the melancholy mood that was set by playing footsie with Hermione who was all smiles. At the end of the meal, Harry and Ron went up to Ron's room.

"Hey, so where did you sleep last night then." Ron asked Harry, suddenly, his face becoming serious. He knew the answer to the question already, but he just wanted to make sure. Harry knew what was coming, however he saw no point in lying, as he knew that would just set Ron off.

"In this room and so did Ginny." Harry waited for Ron to shout at him and get upset, but it never came. Ron just sat on his bed, thinking of the best way to broach the situation. He knew that Harry liked Ginny, he knew also that Ginny liked him. He also knew that he would be sill if he thought that he could stop them from seeing each other, but he still wanted to lay down the law. Eventually, Ron looked up at Harry, who had just been standing there, expectantly.

"Let's go for a walk." Ron said simply. He stood up and left the room, Harry followed him in silence wondering just what Ron was planning.

They left the house and walked into the woods in complete silence. After about 5 minutes or so Ron stopped walking.

"I used to play in these woods all the time as a kid you know. It was nice to have a place to get away from everyone else once in a while you know." Harry just looked at Ron waiting for him to speak.

"Look mate, I know you like Ginny. But I have to ask you, are you really serious about her?"

"Yes of course!" replied Harry immediately.

"Good, then what I have to tell you shouldn't be a problem. And stop looking so worried will you, I'm not about to slit your throat out in these woods!" Ron said. Harry visibliy relaxed upon hearing this.

"So I don't really have much to say but this. I'm certainly not foolish enough to think for a second that I could stop the two of you from dating if I tried." Ron let out a small chuckle at the prospect. "I mean this is Ginny we are talking about, she's definitely the most headstrong person in this family." Ron paused for a bit, trying to carefully pick his words.

"I'm actually really glad, of all the boys she could have picked it's you. I never told you, but I prefer that my little sister dates my best friend to the vast amount of wankers that are out there you know. Anyway, don't you dare hurt her." Harry opened his mouth ready to rip Ron one for even suggesting that Harry would want to hurt her but Ron simply held up his palm.

"I know you'd never deliberately hurt her. But what I mean is different. The last time you two broke up, when we went searching for horcruxes really hurt her. I don't want a situation like that to happen again. So if we have to leave to go somewhere, I don't want any bloody self-sacrificing style break-up's. You understand that? Ginny's tough and that would hurt her more than all the alternatives. And that's all I have to say really." Harry in a moment of madness hugged Ron, happy that essentially his best friend had been so upfront as to say he was happy that it was him dating Ron's sister.

"Wow, um, okay. But shouldn't you be hugging Ginny?" Ron said with a little laugh. Harry simply slapped him on the head lightly. "Oh that reminds me, I'm kicking you out of my room."

"What?" Harry exclaimed.

"Yeah, you're no longer sleeping in there mate, go find a couch or something. I have private business I want to conduct there at night." Ron said, a huge grin. Harry understood what Ron was saying well enough and was grateful. Ron was never going to be comfortable outright with the idea of Harry and Ginny sleeping in the same room, it just wasn't a thought that he wanted to think about. However he also knew it would be the height of hypocrisy if he were to continue to sleep in the same bed as Hermione and complain when Harry slept in the bed with his sister. Harry feeling great at how things had turned out, gave Ron a huge clap on the back.

"I'm happy for you two you know. It's about time really."

"When you say about time you mean three years late at least." Ron jested.

"Three? More like five! We all know that when you two bicker of silly things it's simply your way of flirting." Ron flushed bright red at this, after all it was the truth. He had started an argument with Hermione more than once with the aim of getting her attention.

"Shut up." Ron said smiling amicably.

The two of them walked back to the house feeling pretty high spirited and bantering with each other about their demeanor around girls that they liked.

-x-y-z-a-b-c-

Oh god, I never meant for that wake up scene to become so big, I swear it just... happened you know, it's like they write themselves when it comes to smut scenes for me, seriously. Also sorry it's short but I'm off to nigeria for a few days, I actually intended to get a lot more done in this chapter but that will go into the next. As always please criticize and flame - Firemaker


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

* * *

><p>The two boys arrived back to The Burrow in high spirits, but when they could hear the muffled cries of Molly Weasley coming from the master bedroom the smiles that had been so planted on their faces removed themselves in an instant. A wave of guilt passed through Ron. He felt bad for having such a good time when he knew that for some, it almost felt like their world had come to an end. But then as he remembered Fred, and the kind of person he was, he realised that Fred would hate nothing more than for his family to be living in misery. He allowed himself a small smile as he remembered one of the numerous pranks that Fred had pulled.<p>

"Ron, can we talk for a bit?" Ron's head snapped up to see Bill looking at him. He was a bit curious as to why his eldest brother wanted to speak to him, but he decidedly held his tongue. Bill simply walked into his room and then cast a silencing charm on the door.

"So, how things going with Hermione then, they're looking pretty good?" Bill gave him a knowing grin.

"You could say that I guess." Ron replied blushing slightly as his thoughts turned to the morning.

"Glad to hear it, she's a fine catch. Anyway, what I have to ask is a bit awkward I guess, but believe me, you should be glad I'm the one talking about this. Charlie doesn't really care much for this kind of thing, George is well... you know and Percy..." he started laughing.

"Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about contraception." Bill said decidedly. Ron went beetroot red at this causing Bill to laugh some more.

"Now you see why you didn't want it to be Percy giving this talk." Ron cracked a smile at this imagining Percy trying to give 'The Talk'.

"So really I just wanted to make sure you knew how to cast the contraception spell, do you?"

"Erm... yeah, George and... Fred actually gave me a book on all that... stuff."

"Oh really?" Bill said with an amused look on his face.

"Yup. I mean why have a nice easy chat, when you can give someone a terribly awkward book instead." Ron replied brightly.

"Oh." Bill said. "Anyway, you two talking to each other about what's going on? I'm assuming you two are getting pretty... physical."

Ron paused. That was the one thing they hadn't done. They hadn't talked about anything.

"No." Ron finally said.

"No?" Bill replied with a slight look of incredulity.

"It's just..." Ron paused to look for a way to word what had been going on. "It's just been so happening fast. I mean we haven't even talked about what we are."

"I'm not going to preach. But you need to, soon as possible." Bill replied.

Ron nodded.

"Anyway enough of all this seriousness. Up for a table jousting competition?" Bill asked.

"Sure." Ron said, a bigger smile permeating his features.

The two of them walked outside and took two tables with them. As they had their wands raised, the two tables began to joust to their command. Ron was continually losing however, his mind occupied with Hermione. He had never been good with words, and he wasn't sure exactly how to broach the issue of what was going on between the two of them.

-x-y-z-a-b-c-

Meanwhile in another part of the house another talk was going on. Hermione and Ginny were sat in Ginny's room together.

"So you and Ron." Ginny said with a smirk on her face.

"Hmm?"

"About time don't you think. You two should have gotten together years ago." Ginny said succinctly. "Anyway, you enjoying finally having a boyfriend?"

"Well..." Hermione paused, unsure what to say. It wasn't like the two of them had actually said a word about what was going on. "We haven't actually talked about anything." Hermione admitted. Ginny sighed.

"You know this is Ron you are dealing with here. You have to take initiative. It's not like he's going to say no."

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked softly.

"He's in love with you Hermione!" Ginny replied exhasperrated.

"Did he tell you?"

"No."

"Then how do you know?"

"Harry told me what happened with the locket."

"Wait what does the locket have to do with this?" Hermione replied confused.

"What it said when he stabbed it." Ginny replied, looking a little confused as to how she didn't know.

"But, it didn't say anything!"

"Maybe they didn't tell you but it did!" Ginny replied heatedly.

"And so just what did Harry say happened then?" Hermione asked her voice also raised.

"Some really terrible things."

"And those terrible things were?" Hermione asked again.

"They were about you. It projected an image of you and Harry. And your image proceeded to torture Ron and tell him that he was stupid to ever think you could love him over Harry." Ginny paused for a second her face looking somewhat upset. "He cried you know. After he destroyed it. He never cries, but he broke down then." Ginny said her voice coming out shakey. It was all so obvious to her. The locket had played on Ron's worst fear.

Whatever argument Hermione had felt like bringing up died on her lips at this point. Her thoughts turned back to the time they had been roaming the country hunting for Horcruxes. The locket had always affected Ron the worst and now she could see why. She even felt guilty for the way she had treated him after he had returned. She barely acknowledged his presence to show her displeasure and almost as a form of punishment, when actually he had tormented enough. She had to find Ron. She wasn't going to let him go another second without knowing the truth. She had to let him know that she loved him. She wanted to put all his fears to rest for good. She stood up from the bed and walked towards the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Called out Ginny, taken aback by how Hermione had just gotten up to leave without saying so much as a word.

"To find Ron." she said as if it was obvious and then she walked out the door.

-x-y-z-a-b-c-

Ron growled in frustration as his table fell to the ground again causing Bill to start laughing.

"You know, you're never going to beat me by just flying straight at me." He called out. Ron just growled again.

The two of them raised their wands at the tables again and they began to float up. Ron's table however wobbled and fell all of a sudden. Out of nowhere Hermione had appeared and was tugging at his other arm.

"Sorry, Bill, but I need to borrow your brother." she called out apologetically, as she grasped onto Ron's arm tighter and began walking off with Ron in toe.

"Wait where are you taking me?" Ron asked, a little worried at how Hermione had just walked up, plucked him and was now dragging him towards the broomshed. She pushed him against the shed with force and then finally looked up at him.

"Have you gone mental?" Ron asked a bit worried. Hermione simply rolled her eyes.

"I have tell you something and it can't wait." she said, her voice more tender than Ron had ever heard it, her eyes locked onto his. She grabbed both hands of his and gave them a gentle squeeze. At this point Ron wasn't sure what to do, he was rooted to the spot.

"Ron," she said, whilst taking a step closer. Ron felt his heart rate soar as this happened. "I love you." and with that she wrapped her hands around his neck and crushed her lips against his. Ron however was so taken back by this he didn't even kiss her back. He wasn't even sure he heard her right. He pushed her away gently and stared in a dazed like state. Ron opened his mouth as if to say something but his mind failed him and he realised he had nothing to say. Hermione giggled a little. She hadn't expected this reaction but she certainly felt a little pleased that she had the power to reduce Ron into a gobsmacked state.

Ron wasn't entirely sure that he had heard Hermione correctly. It sounded like she had said the three words that he so desperately had been craving to hear from her. He looked at her, and the tender expression on her face and he felt he wanted to be sure.

"Say it again?" he asked tentatively.

"I love you." she replied softly, her cheeks going pink. The words finally sank into Ron and as they did they seemed to induce a feeling of euphoria in him. Hermione watched as his face went from one of shock to a very wide smile. "Well say something then." Hermione demanded, with a soft voice.

"Well... um... I love you too." Ron replied slowly, as if he didn't feel in total control of his own body.

"Really?" Hermione asked in a small voice. This caused Ron to snap out of his stupour.

"Yes!" He replied brightly, he pulled her in closer and whispered in her ear. "I love you, Hermione Jean Granger." Tears began to form in Hermione's eyes and they slowly slid down her face alarming Ron. "Wait, what's wrong?" He was perplexed as to why she was crying. Hadn't she just told him that she loved him, and he had told her that he loved her. But before he had any further chance to dwell on the issue Hermione pressed her lips against his again and pressed her body flush against his. Ron visibly shrugged before wrapping his arms around the small of her back and lifting her up slightly. The kiss began to grow more heated as Hermione wrapped her legs around Ron. She pulled away from his face, sucking on his bottom lip at the same time. Hermione then began to plant kisses down his jawline and onto Ron's neck causing him to let out a long moan.

Hermione's hands began to wander across the front of Ron's body and she began to grope at his chest leading to more moaning on his part. Ron in response lowered his hands until they were firmly cupping her bum cheeks. As she began to suck and nibble on the side of his skin, Ron shuddered with pleasure and squeezed her ass.

"Oh for goodness sake you two. You're like cats in heat!"

The two of them disengaged from each other to see Ginny grinning at them.

"And just what do you want?" Ron replied, clearly irritated, his ears going red with embarrassment. Hermione face had also gone even more pink.

"I was sent to look for you two as it's dinner time. Though I think you two have stolen my appetite." Ginny said a smirk.

"Well that's not a problem, I'll eat your food for you." Ron replied irritated. "Oh and I haven't said anything about you and Harry so I'd appreciate it if you would keep thoughts like that to yourself."

Ginny's mouth opened and closed at this and Hermione just shrugged at her. It was true, Ron had turned a blind eye to whatever Ginny and Harry had been getting up to, for once. Hermione thought it was a rather mature response from Ron. However in the interests of maintaining the peace she thought it would be prudent to get the two siblings inside before Ginny could think of a retort, as she had no doubt that Ron would fall back into old habits happily if pushed.

"Lets just go in you two." came Hermione's voice.

-x-y-z-3-2-1-

Before dinner even started there was a green burst of flame at the fireplace and out of it walked a worn out looking Arthur Weasley folled by a tired looking Kingsley Shacklebolt. Molly rushed straight over to the two of them.

"Evening dear, you didn't tell me we'd be having guests!" Molly fretted.

"Sorry, I should have floo called." Arthur admitted.

"Kingley, please come into the dining room. We were just about to have dinner. I would be most honoured if you would join us." said Molly. With the help of Fleur she had prepared as usual dinner to feed a whole army.

"Oh I wouldn't want to impose-" Kingsley began.

"Nonsense, you're doing no such thing. Come in and sit down. I insist." Molly cut him off. And with that she lead him into the dining room where everyone had already taken their seats.

"So what brings you here Kingsley?" Harry asked. He was sure this wasn't just a courtesy call.

"You, actually I need to talk to you three." he said, motioning to Hermione and Ron. "We're currently trying to put together a full picture on the extent of the damage caused by Voldermort and exactly what has been happening over the last 3 years since he came back."

"How's the hunt for the rest of the death eaters going." came a raspy quiet but strong voice. It had come from George Weasley. He had literally spat out the name death eater like it was simply the most repulsive word combination in the English language.

"We've caught most of those who were most loyal to Voldermort, but we are having trouble with finding others." Kingsley sighed. "Many have slipped away into hiding. It's actually overwhelming the Auror department somewhat. We're stretched really thin as we are having problems telling which auror's under voldermort were actually loyal to him and which were just under the imperius curse."

"It's a lot like what happened 17 years ago." Arthur supplied. "But it's worse now, most of the ministry was under his control so now we are being forced to evaluate nearly everyone all over again."

"What's being done with Azkaban?" Hermione asked also curious as to how everything was going to be sorted out. Many people had been falsely imprisoned in Azkaban and also there was the issue of the dementors themselves.

"Those who were falsely imprisoned such as muggleborns have been released already and also I'm working to remove the dementors from there, but I must admit that I am running into resistance from others."

"That's bloody ridiculous!" cried out Ron. "Who would still want to use the dementors after they rebelled?"

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, if you use language like that again I'll hex that mouth of yours shut!" called out Molly sternly.

"Sorry." he said quietly. And then he continued "So just who is opposing the removal of the dementors."

"Delores Umbridge for one." Kingsley replied.

"WHAT?" the golden trio all shouted at the same time in disbelief.

"How is that old hag still allowed a job?" Harry called out. The three of them remembered the incident at the ministry very vividly. How she was still allowed a position baffled him.

"I actually wanted to remove her from her post the moment I got in, however we weren't able to put a full case against her until late today. We will be removing her and she will be tried." Kingsley stated, a small smile flitted across his face when he mentioned that she would be removed before disappearing. "We're going to need you three in the court for a lot of the trials by the way. As witnesses. But we'll talk more about that later."

The rest of the meal was uncharacteristically silent. The idea that there were still Death Eaters on the loose bothered Ron more than he let on. After what had happened to Fred he felt a burning passion to hunt them down and exact revenge upon those who had stolen Fred Weasley from the living. When the meal finished Fleur who had been more than helpful since returning to The Burrow offered to do the dishes so that the rest could go off and discuss things with Kingsley.

Kingsley, Harry, Ron and Hermione walked towards a more private area of the house and they sat down.

"So, I'm going to be honest here. We're pretty lost as far as trying to figure out everything that's happened over the last few years and I need you guys to tell me everything you found out so we can really build a picture and put everything back together." Kingsley asks.

"Of course." Harry answers immediately. The time for secrets had been and gone he thought.

And so the three of them began to explain exactly what had happened from when Voldemort had first come back to power again. The three of them spun an intricate web of detail for Kingsley. It took hours. At the end of it Kingsley was quiet, his brain obviously whirling with thought.

"I don't know what I can say to you three. You've done so much and so young too. I don't think the wizarding world will ever be able to thank you enough." he finally said.

"We didn't do it to be praised." Harry said quietly. Ron rolled his eyes and said nothing. If there was ever a person that was deserving of praise, it was his best friend, Harry Potter and if there was ever a person that was so opposed to receiving it, it was also Harry. "We had help... and so many died to help us... to help me." Harry said in an even quieter tone. Ron thought about Fred, who'd been taken so young and he felt a wave of anger rush over him and pieces of the puzzle he didn't even know where there began to form in his head.

"Kingsley," Ron began, "You said the auror department was stretched pretty thin at the moment right?"

"Yes."

"What would it take to be allowed to join the auror department at this time?" he asked cautiously.

"Normally we would only take on NEWT students after having them take numerous character tests before admitting them into the training program." Ron's face fell at this. He had little to no intention of going back to school. How could he when there were still death eaters left on the loose. Kingsley noticed this and seemed deep in thought.

"So are you three going to go back and do your NEWTS?" he asked.

"No."

"Yes!" The three of them cried at the same time. Hermione saying yes and then looking at the other two in shock.

"You're not going back?" she asked looking back at both Harry and Ron.

"Nothing left for me there." Harry replied simply, a note of sadness in his voice. Ron nodded accordingly with this assessment. He was done with school, it all seemed a bit pointless now and he wasn't willing to go back.

"Normally I wouldn't do this, but to you two I think I shall bend the rules a bit and allow you into the straight into the Auror department on an internship basis." Kingsley said. He was met with open mouthed jaw drops from both Harry and Ron.

"What do you mean by internship?" Harry asked.

"Because we are spread so thin at the moment, the department doesn't have the resources to teach people in classes so instead you'll be taught on the job. We'll pay you a decent amount of course and you earn bonuses for sucessful operations."

"When can we start?" Harry asked eagerly. The prospect of being paid to hunt and bring death eaters to justice sounded a lot like a job he could throw himself wholeheartedly into.

"Well, whenever you are ready. I'm sure after all that you have done the department would be willing to bend a few schedules to slide you in." Kingsley answered.

"Well this is bloody brilliant, help defeat a dark lord and suddenly life ambitions are made easy to attain." Ron joked, clearly in high spirits at the idea of being able to join the Aurors.

"You two sure you want to do this now? Nobody would blame you for wanting to take a break." Hermione asked her two companions. Ron looked up at her with a penetrative glare.

"How can I rest knowing that Death Eaters who are responsible for the death of... Fred and many more are still free and on the loose?" He asked her, his eyes burning in passion. Hermione had to recoil slightly after the statement which was delivered with such passion.

"I thought you would be interested to know, that Neville Longbottom has already opted to join as an intern. His reasoning much the same as yours." Kingsley chimed in.

"Neville?" Ron asked slightly surprised.

"Well, it's not really that suprising considering what happened to his parents." Hermione chimed in. Her brow then furrowed. "Kingsley, I was wondering what I would need to do to have a portkey arranged."

"A port key? Why?"

"I need to go to Australia." she said simply.

"Australia?" Kingsley asked looking a bit lost.

"I wiped my parents memory of me and sent them there last year." she said, her voice beginning to shake slightly and the end of her sentence. Ron reached out to her hand and gave it a supportive squeeze.

"I can have one arranged for you in that case. Though I would feel more at ease if you would let the Ministry retrieve them. Afterall you three are still going to be targets for the remaining Death Eaters."

"No!" she said forcefully. The rest of the room winced slightly. "Sorry," she apologised, obviously not meaning to have come out with such a negative reaction. "It's just, I have to be the one to do it. I'm the one who sent them away from their lives." By this point tears were slowly escaping from Hermione's eyes as she looked at Kingsley.

"Okay, I'll have one set up, but will you at least allow me to send some aurors with you?" he asked softly.

"That won't be necc-"

"We'll go with her." Ron interrupted her before she could even finish the sentence.

"Why? This doesn't involve you." she said heatedly.

"I don't care. You are not going to walk around on your own anywhere with death eaters still on the loose!" Ron replied with just as much passion.

"Are you suggesting I can't take care of myself?" she shouted back at him. Harry sighed, being totally used to the two of them being at each others throats.

"Haven't you learned anything over the last few years? Whenever we split up, things go wrong!"

"They aren't your parents! You don't have to explain to them that you likely ruined their careers without their permission and tampered with their minds." by this point Hermione was full on sobbing.

"That doesn't mean we can't come along! If you think I'm ever going to let even the chance of another Malfoy Manor happening you must be out of your damn mind!" Ron bellowed. Hermione's face softened at this moment and Harry chose to back up Ron.

"Look we get that you have a lot of explaining to do and you're scared about how your parents might react. But that doesn't mean you have to wander around alone."

"Okay." she said softly.

"Okay what?" Ron asked.

"You two can come with me." Hermione answered with a shakey smile reaching her lips. Harry turned to Kingsley who had been silently watching the row with a bit of an embarrased look on his face, not really sure whether he should have been present for such a thing. Harry didn't blame him, whilst he had been privy to many many fights between the two of them.

"So that will be okay, the three of us going to Australia?" he asked Kingsley.

"You three can go. But you'll be under watch from Ministry contacts in Australia." Kingsley replied. "When do you intend to leave?"

"Four days time." Hermione answered. Ron winced, she was picking the day after Fred's funeral.

"I'll have everything set up then." he then stood to his feet. "I'm afraid it is late and I must be going. But I do thank you three for sharing everything with me." And with that he walked out of the room.

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><p>Short chapter. Sorry, but I've got the next one started and its going to be fairly long. Also, I'm in need of a beta. I can't proofread to save my life! So someone help me out. Read, <strong>review, critique <strong>a bad review is like a breath of fresh air to me. Critique so I can make the story better. Got another story in the works also, next generation fiction, but not really for you romance lovers.


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